article: "the destabilising impact of bloody conflicts and violence was made clear in the low rankings of Sudan, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Iraq, which followed Somalia and North Korea."

That definitely shows as a result of corruption and in that the listing makes sense.

Where it might be qualified is at the municipal level where the general public interacts because at that point where one country might have bribes for not getting caught the other might have a fee schedule for giving permission which seems more reflective of procedure than of morality. And in that sense maybe bribery is the entrepreneurial of the two.

This is "perceived corruption" -- perceived by whom? I'd like to see a map depicting national corruption, accounting for the degree of risk to humanity associated with each nation's breed of corruption.

I say that because we're all aware that the slightest degree of fossil-fuel or pharmaceutical or chemical corruption granted under U.S. or Chinese or EU jurisdiction has wide-reaching implications and affects. Also, I imagine, some forms of corruption self-proliferate more readily.

As MigMTs pointed out, this is the Corruption Perception Index. They do surveys in all these countries, and get people's sense of how corrupt things are in their countries. It's difficult to compare countries...some common political practices in the US, for example, which we consider legitimate (like corporate political donations or conflict of interest concerning media conglomerates) might come off as corrupt elsewhere..not that these things don't occur elsewhere, but people in other countries might include these things under "corruption". That said, there's little doubt that, say, Afghanistan is extremely corrupt. But take this survey with a grain of salt.

bigMTs saidThis is "perceived corruption" -- perceived by whom? I'd like to see a map depicting national corruption, accounting for the degree of risk to humanity associated with each nation's breed of corruption.

I say that because we're all aware that the slightest degree of fossil-fuel or pharmaceutical or chemical corruption granted under U.S. or Chinese or EU jurisdiction has wide-reaching implications and affects. Also, I imagine, some forms of corruption self-proliferate more readily.

Corruption, by its nature is perceived. While most Americans don't think it is unreasonable for individuals to donate small amounts of money to their chosen candidate, in some European countries the practice has been outlawed.

Similarly tipping in restaurants, a completely normal practice in restaurants to get better service, can be done in different ways. In the US it is done after a meal, while in India it may be done before a meal. This low-level corruption in India is normal, accepted practice, but in the US could easily lead to a fist fight in a bar, as the staff react more quickly to a higher bidder for better service.

This becomes complicated as additional countries on more and more topics, thus the perception in this particular index is based on how a country views itself, since local customs do not always translate with clear simple statistical analyses.